August 6th, 2005 by Pete
My wife and I were lucky enough to see Ibrahim and his large Cuban band at Gammage Auditorium (ASU) back in 2003. To get a better understanding of this angelic-voiced, gentle man, rent/buy Buena Vista Social Club; and listen to this.
Ibrahim Ferrer: Silencio (mp3) - duet with Omara Portuondo | Bonus: Aquellos Ojos Verdes (mp3)
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August 4th, 2005 by Pete
Mana is a mega-popular Latin American rock band whose roots go back to Guadalajara, Mexico, where they started out in the 70’s and 80’s performing under the name Sombrero Verde. Their self-titled debut as Mana was released in 1987.
My brother introduced me to this tune recently (okay, well, tonight), which comes from Mana’s 2002 release ‘Revolucion de Amor’ (the album cover reminds me of Steve Earle’s ‘El Corazon’). A nice laid back tune, eliciting thoughts of sunshine &, margaritas, though my brother tells me it’s the story of a prostitute. Maybe he can fill in the details in the comments below….
Mana: Mariposa Traiconera (mp3)
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May 14th, 2005 by Pete
A perfect song for a late Saturday night… the lights are low, there’s a few drops of wine left in the bottle, your eyes meet. You slowly walk closer to her. You sense excitement in the air as you approach her. Then…the unbearable wait is over as you say… “Wanna go for a walk?!… Outside??! WOOF WOOF!! Her tails wags uncontrollably as you step out into the moonlight. Now that’s a Saturday night…
Ibrahim Ferrer: Aquellos Ojos Verdes (mp3) [Buy on Amazon]
In all semi-seriousness, this song can help in your amorous pursuits…. Ibrahim is a golden-throated Cuban singer, now in his late seventies. He was one of the popular Cuban musicians of the 1950’s. By the 80’s he was back to shining shoes and living on a monthly pension. That was until the late 90’s, when Ry Cooder went to Cuba and located all of the great Cuban musicians of the day and assembled the Buena Vista Social Club. You can see it all in the 1999 documentary of the same name. The movie is powerful and moving beyond words, featuring such greats as Ruben Gonzales, Compay Segundo, and Eliades Ochoa. The shame is that these greats lay dormant for so long in Castro’s Cuba.
I’ll go out on a limb and assume that if you’re reading this, you love music. If so, get a hold of this movie and watch it. Go to the video store, hit up Netflix, buy it on Amazon, whatever… just see it.
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February 12th, 2005 by Pete
Today’s selection comes from a an old friend of mine (and a contributor to this site), Ty. After many extended stays in Brazil, he decided to start up a band in the Denver area to try and recreate the Brazilian sound in the Denver/Boulder music scene. If you’re in the Denver area, check out Sambadende.
Ty made a bunch of great Brazilian mix CD’s for me. One of the cuts is this great Sergio Mendes track, “Magalenha”. You’ll see why I like it, precisely at the 0:44 second mark, when the percussion explodes. Turn it up and clear out the area around you. If you have a soul, you will be moved….
Sergio Mendes - Magalenha (mp3) - from ‘Brasileiro’, 1992, Elektra - {Buy it on Amazon}
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